Guest House Association of South Africa

23/09/2026

THE BRIEF | Wednesday 23 September

The fuel price changes on Wednesday 7 October. On the Central Energy Fund's own running numbers it is going up by more than two rand a litre, and diesel by more than that. If you quote guests a fixed transfer price, or you run a generator, those numbers are about to stop working.

WHERE THE PRICE IS NOW

From the CEF media statement dated 28 August 2026, released on behalf of the Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources. It fixes these prices "FOR THE PERIOD 02/09/2026 TO 06/10/2026".

Inland, petrol 95 unleaded, R26,92 a litre. Petrol 93, R26,76. Coastal, petrol 95, R26,05.

Diesel is a wholesale price, not a pump price. Inland 0,05 percent sulphur, R29,1111. Inland 0,005 percent, R29,5551. Coastal 0,05 percent, R28,2391.

WHAT THE CEF FILE SAYS

The CEF publishes a daily basic fuel price file. The one dated 21 September 2026 gives the average unit under recovery for 28 August to 21 September as: petrol 95, 283,395 cents a litre. Petrol 93, 266,404. Diesel 0,05 percent, 260,819. Diesel 0,005 percent, 301,376. Illuminating paraffin, 314,624.

An under recovery is the gap the price has to close. Add those figures to the prices above and inland 95 lands near R29,75, and inland 0,005 percent diesel near R32,57. That arithmetic is ours, done off the CEF's numbers.

TWO REASONS IT IS NOT FINAL

One. The month is not over. Those are averages to 21 September, and the figure moves every trading day. African Insider on 9 September reported an under recovery of R1,93 on 95. InBound SA on 14 September put the projected 95 increase at R2,14. The CEF file on 21 September says R2,834. It has widened each time, and it can narrow.

Two. The under recovery is not the whole adjustment. Slate levy and margin changes are added at month end and can push it either way. The September increase included a slate levy rise of 21,90 cents a litre.

The official figure comes from the Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources at month end. Do not print a rate card or a package price off anybody's projection, this one included. CEF enquiries, Robert Maake on 082 773 2306 or J Mokobane on 082 766 3674.

CEF's own price history shows inland 95 at R28,06 from 3 June 2026, the highest it has been. On the 21 September numbers, October passes that.

WHY THIS MATTERS TO A GUEST HOUSE OWNER

Your guests drive here. R2,834 a litre is R141,70 on a fifty litre tank, each way. People doing a long weekend in October are doing that sum before they book.

Your transfers. If you quote a fixed price for an airport run or a w**e route day, you set it against R26,92 fuel. From 7 October you absorb the difference on every trip. Reprice it this week, or say in writing that transfers are quoted at fuel cost on the day.

Your generator. The grade rising fastest is 0,005 percent diesel, R3,01 a litre on the CEF running average. The first week of October is the wrong week to have an empty tank.

Your suppliers. Laundry collection, food deliveries and gas all carry fuel in the price. Ask each one this week whether their delivery charge is fixed or fuel linked, and get it in writing before the October invoices come.

And if you are quoting festive season packages with any driving in them, quote off the October number, not today's.

SOURCES
https://cefgroup.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/Daily-21-09-2026.pdf
https://cefgroup.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Press-Release-28-August-2026-Change-02-September-2026.pdf
https://cefgroup.co.za/daily-basic-fuel-price/

22/09/2026

MEMBER SPOTLIGHT
Sunset Manor Guest House, Potchefstroom

A purpose built guest house on the edge of the Mooi River marshland, four star graded, with horses on the fence line and birdsong in the morning. It is named after the sunsets, which tells you what the owners think the best part of the day is.

What you get:
- Rooms with a king bed or two singles, extra length mattresses, en suite
- A kitchenette in every unit, bar fridge, microwave, kettle
- A sitting area and a proper work station, not a chair and a windowsill
- Private entrance to each unit, flat screen with DStv, air conditioning, mini safe
- Secure undercover parking, one vehicle per unit
- A patio and a pool. Breakfast is optional, served in the dining room

The trick of the place is that it is not out of town. You are minutes from Potchefstroom itself while sitting next to wetland. Van der Hoffpark, with two entrances, on Kanaal Street and Ben Pienaar Street.

Potchefstroom gets filed away as a university town and left there. It is also a river town, and an easy stop if you are heading down from Johannesburg with no wish to arrive anywhere in a hurry.

Book direct: https://sunsetmanorpotch.co.za

Sunset Manor is a GHASA member.

22/09/2026

22/09/2026

An old photo from a sunrise at The Point in Mossel Bay.

Looking back at some of my older images always reminds me how much photography is about being in the right place at the right time. The colours, the light coming through the rocks, and that first bit of sunlight hitting the ocean made this morning one to remember.
Mossel Bay has so many beautiful scenes that we sometimes forget to look at what is right on our doorstep.

22/09/2026

One of the pleasures of staying at Fugitives’ Drift is quite simply heading out for a walk.

Our reserve has miles of marked trails through the bushveld, with wonderful views across the Buffalo River and plenty of opportunities to encounter giraffe, zebra, impala and other plains game along the way.

And before anyone asks the obvious question: there are no dangerous apex predators on the reserve, so guests can explore our marked routes safely on foot with a map from reception. For those who would rather have some company and learn a little more along the way, we also offer guided nature walks.

You can choose a shorter wander or head further into the reserve and make an adventure of it.

If you’d like to find out more before your stay, send us a message. And if you’re reading this from Fugitives’ Drift right now, have a chat with our team and we’ll point you in the right direction.

22/09/2026

More than 15 000 short term rental listings are live in Cape Town alone. Two different short term rental data firms counted the market this year. Both came in above that number.

Most of them are ordinary houses and flats with a lock box on the gate and nobody on site. No breakfast. No one to meet the guest at the door.

You are better than every one of them at the part that happens after a guest arrives. That is not in question.

Here is the part nobody explained.

Those operators have one job. The listing is the whole business. They are not cooking, not doing the books, not standing at reception, not phoning someone about the geyser. They sit down and fill in every field on Booking.com, load thirty photos, and answer messages in four minutes.

You have fifteen jobs. The listing gets done at eleven at night, if it gets done.

And the listing is where the booking is now won. Booking.com, Airbnb, LekkeSlaap and Google decide who the guest sees, long before anyone reaches your website. Those sites mark your listing. How many photos you have. How complete your description is. How fast you reply. Whether your rates and calendar match everywhere.

You are being marked on this. Nobody sent a letter to say the marking had started.

You already know what it feels like from where you are sitting. Fewer enquiries than last year. More empty nights out of season. More guests asking for a discount. The same hours for less money at the end of the month.

It feels personal. It is not. It is a shelf you were never shown.

The good news is that this part is cheap to fix.

Booking.com publishes its own numbers on it. It says properties with a 100 percent property page score get up to 18 percent more bookings than properties with incomplete content. It asks for at least ten photos, at least four of every room, and one of the bathroom. That is an afternoon with your phone. It costs nothing.

We built a free check so you can see where you actually stand. Fifteen questions, all multiple choice, under a minute. Nothing to look up and no report to wait for.

https://survey.zohopublic.com/zs/bjBnLN?Lead_Source=Facebook

The booking sites are not the enemy here. They send you real guests and they charge real commission for it. This is about earning more from the money you are already paying them.

Open to any guest house or B and B in South Africa, member or not.

The GHASA team

22/09/2026

THE BRIEF | Tuesday 22 September

Kruger's Malelane Gate shuts at 08:00 this morning, and SANParks has not said when it reopens. If you have guests driving into the park today, that is a conversation to have at breakfast, not a message at ten.

WHAT SANPARKS SAID

From a SANParks media release dated 20 September 2026, headed "Malelane Gate to Close Temporarily due to Planned March by Unemployed Youth":

"Access to the Malelane Gate in the south of the Kruger National Park will be closed temporarily on Tuesday, 22 September 2026".

The reason given is "a planned march by a group of unemployed youth from the Nkomazi area bordering the Park".

The closure runs "from 08:00 on 22 September 2026 until such time that all protesters have vacated the affected area and normal operations can safely resume".

So there is a start time and no end time.

SANParks says the organisers described it as "intended to be a peaceful protest". The same release adds: "Attempts to meet the organisers before the planned march were unsuccessful."

THE WINDOW THIS MORNING

The SANParks entrance gate page lists September as Entry 06:00, Exit 18:00. So the gate opened at six and shuts at eight.

That page also carries the line "Times may change without notice - please confirm with the park prior to arrival."

WHERE ELSE THEY CAN GO

SANParks advises travellers to "make alternative travel arrangements and utilise other entry gates where possible". It does not name one. We are not going to name one for you either, because nobody has said which roads around Malelane the march will use.

SANParks lists nine Kruger entrance gates. Crocodile Bridge, Malelane, Numbi, Orpen, Pafuri, Paul Kruger, Phabeni, Phalaborwa and Punda Maria.

One thing to check before you send anyone on a longer drive. SANParks offers late entry escorts, until 21:00 and for a fee, at Paul Kruger, Numbi, Malelane, Crocodile Bridge, Punda Maria and Orpen. It also says plainly there is "No late admission at Phabeni, Phalaborwa and Pafuri". A detour that adds hours can put your guests at a gate that will not take them after closing.

Phone the Kruger emergency call centre on 013 735 4325, or the park admin office on 013 735 4000, before you send anyone anywhere.

ONE MORE THING WE CHECKED

At 06:00 this morning the notice was on the SANParks news page only. It was not on the Kruger notifications page, which still shows the Skukuza units notice from December and the standing malaria alert. If you have told staff to check the alerts page, that is not where this one is sitting.

SANParks has published nothing newer. It says it "will provide updates should there be any changes to the situation or if the gate is reopened earlier than anticipated."

WHY THIS MATTERS TO A GUEST HOUSE OWNER

If you are anywhere near Malelane, Hectorspruit, Komatipoort, Marloth Park or Nelspruit, some of the people at your breakfast table this morning are driving to that gate.

Three small things.

One. Tell them at breakfast. If they are packed and gone before eight, they are through.

Two. If they are leaving after eight, phone the park first. A family that drives to a closed gate, turns around and hunts for another one has lost most of a day they paid for, and that conversation happens with you, not with SANParks.

Three. If you sold a package with a park day in it today, or you are holding a booking that depends on one, your cancellation terms are about to be tested. Decide what you are doing this morning rather than at six tonight.

None of this is your fault and none of it is yours to fix. It still lands on your morning.

Source: https://www.sanparks.org/news/malelane-gate-to-close-temporarily-due-to-planned-march-by-unemployed-youth

Access to the Malelane Gate in the south of the Kruger National Park will be closed temporarily on Tuesday, 22 September 2026 due to a planned march by a group of unemployed youth from the Nkomazi area bordering the Park.

21/09/2026

THE BRIEF | Monday 21 September

Two numbers land on Wednesday. August inflation at ten in the morning, and the Reserve Bank's interest rate decision the same day. Between them they set what your bond, your overdraft and your vehicle finance cost until 19 November.

THE DATES

Statistics South Africa's advance release schedule for the Consumer Price Index, product P0141, reads: "Wednesday, 23 September 2026 @ 10:00; P0141 - Consumer Price Index (CPI), August 2026".

The Reserve Bank's own Monetary Policy Committee page lists its upcoming announcements as 23 July 2026, 23 September 2026 and 19 November 2026. So the rate decision is Wednesday too, and the one after that is seven weeks later.

WHERE THE RATE SITS NOW

The repo rate is 7.00 percent and prime is 10.50 percent.

Be straight about where those come from. The Reserve Bank's own current market rates table would not load when we checked it at 06:00 this morning. Both figures are taken from Trading Economics, and the prime rate of 10.50 percent is confirmed separately by a report on the July meeting published by The Global Banker on 23 July 2026.

At that July meeting the MPC held the rate at 7.00 percent on a 4 to 2 vote. Two members wanted a further quarter point increase.

WHAT INFLATION HAS BEEN DOING

From Stats SA's key findings for the last release, published 19 August 2026: "Annual consumer price inflation was 4,3% in July 2026, down from 5,0% in June 2026." Month on month the index rose 0,2 percent.

WILL THEY MOVE IT

Nobody knows, and anyone telling you they do is guessing. Trading Economics carries a forecast of 7 percent for Wednesday, meaning no change. BusinessTech on 20 September quoted Umkhulu Treasury saying "The SARB is in a predicament as to whether to increase rates or not."

Two views, both honest. We are not going to pick one for you.

WHY THIS MATTERS TO A GUEST HOUSE OWNER

Most small business overdrafts, geyser and solar finance, and vehicle instalments are priced off prime plus a margin. If prime moves on Wednesday afternoon, your instalments move with it, usually from the first of the following month.

Two practical things this week.

If you have a bond or vehicle finance, phone your bank before Wednesday and ask what a quarter of a percentage point does to your monthly instalment, up and down. Not a guess off the internet. Your actual balance and your actual term. It takes the consultant two minutes and it tells you whether this is worth worrying about or not.

If you are part way through a finance application for a roof, a borehole, a battery or a bakkie, ask one question: is the rate fixed at signature or at drawdown. Owners get caught by that every cycle.

And the inflation number matters for something else. If you are sitting down to set your 2027 rack rates, Wednesday morning gives you the figure you will be arguing against when a repeat guest asks why the room went up. Last month it was 4,3 percent.

SOURCES

Stats SA CPI schedule: https://www.statssa.gov.za/?page_id=2643&PPN=P0141&SCH=74473
SARB MPC page: https://www.resbank.co.za/en/home/what-we-do/monetary-policy/monetary-policy-committee
Rates and forecast: https://tradingeconomics.com/south-africa/interest-rate

20/09/2026

Catch our village bus from the Darling Wildflower Show venue into the various gems in our village. Get your bus route at our Darling Tourism desk!!!